He is Not Alone AND The Final Choice
by LadyNightRunner
Summary: Sesshoumaru, the shy, shunned student, gets sick at school one day. He's more than a littel surprised when the famed InuYasha takes him home to care for him. All goes well until InuYasha comes down with a nastier version of Sesshoumaru's stomach virus.
1. Symptoms

Okay, let me make this clear. I've had this written for awhile, and decided to post it. You no flame, me no blame.

Disclaimer: I'm an American girl, not to mention a former military brat. Do you think I own InuYasha? If so, seek medical attention at once.

Summary: Sesshoumaru, the shy, shunned student, gets sick at school one day. He's more than a littel surprised when the famed InuYasha takes him home to care for him. All goes well until InuYasha comes down with a nastier version of Sesshoumaru's stomach virus. After their true blood is revealed, which will InuYasha choose? Human or Demon? He isn't going to live much longer if he stays as a half-and-half!

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"Pay attention!" The voice bellowed in Sesshoumaru's ear. He jumped, and his desk chose that exact moment to collapse. Teenager and desk ended up on the floor in a tangle of wood, limbs, and metal. A wave of giggles spread across the room, further embarrassing the already miserable male. Blushing furiously, he collected his belongings from the floor and stood, tipping his head forward to hide his face behind a curtain of hair. The teacher inspected the wreckage. "Hmmm…all of the bolts are missing. Well, go sit over there." He pointed at a desk near the center of the room.

"Yessir." Sesshoumaru mumbled, and moved quickly to the desk, cursing whoever had pulled the prank under his breath. He dropped into the seat and arranged his things on the desktop. The teacher eyed his slouch in annoyance.

"Sit up!" he snapped, and Sesshoumaru groaned. That was very well for your average teenager, but not for him. He was well over 6 feet in height, very close to 7 feet, and still growing. "Is there a problem, Sesshoumaru?"

"N-no sir." He stammered.

"N-no sir." Someone repeated. Sesshoumaru blushed again. As students went, Sesshoumaru was a good one. When it came to popularity, however, he was at the bottom of the heap. Lower even, on some underground level that he shared with worms, dirt, and the crabby old janitor. He had no friends, though he'd _almost_ made friends with a quiet freshman earlier in the year (before Sesshoumaru's extreme shyness kicked in, and the jocks decided to take the kid as one of their own), and he was constantly ridiculed for his looks. In addition to his almost unnatural height, Sesshoumaru had golden eyes (slit-pupiled, though everyone said he wore contacts), sharp teeth, claws (rumored to be an elaborate manicure), pure white hair that fell straight to his waist, pointed ears (which _had_ to be cosmetic surgery), and some odd markings on his face, which, it was said, were tattoos marking him as a member of some satanic cult. There was one other student in the school with features like his; InuYasha. This other was, if possible, even stranger than Sesshoumaru. He didn't have the facial markings or the height, but he always wore a baseball cap, in school and out, and none of the teachers or staff bothered him about it. The only reason that _he_ wasn't given as much trouble was because he was vicious. Also, he had several friends, each supposedly as dangerous as he was.

"I want a two page report on Tuesday. You're dismissed." The class got up and filed quickly out of the room. Sesshoumaru was, as always, glad to be free of school for the day. He took a rather long route home, arrived late, got lectured by his landlady for being late (he ignored her), ate a quick dinner, and went to bed.

/Morning/ "Wake up Sesshy! Breakfast's almost ready!" Sesshoumaru groaned and bopped the 11 year-old on the head with a pillow.

"Morning squirt. I thought you were leaving today."

"We're leaving at 10:30. Mom wanted to say goodbye first."

"Got it. Scram, I have to get dressed." The child left, and Sesshoumaru dressed. His head hurt, but he ignored it.

"Good morning Sesshoumaru." His landlady greeted her tenant happily and plunked a plate of scrambled eggs down in front of him.

"Morning." he mumbled. Just _looking_ at his breakfast made him feel queasy! Still, he forced himself to eat, and even then, he only managed to choke down half of it before the taste became too nauseating to bear. "Thanks for breakfast."

"No problem. Aren't you hungry?"

"Not really."

"Okay. Remember, we won't be here when you get home."

"Yeah, I know." Lucy and her son were going south for a couple of weeks, for a combination wedding, family reunion, and long overdue vacation.

"Keys are in your bag, there are leftover's in the freezer, and I've taken care of the mail. Have a good time."

"I will."

/School-2nd hour- Language Arts Honors/ Sesshoumaru looked up at the clock. Time was going by _very_ slowly. He'd taken something to settle his stomach before he'd left the house, but it wasn't working very well. As if to further prove this point, his stomach twisted, and he winced. That medicine didn't last long he thought, and turned back to the essay he was supposed to be editing. He sighed. The letters blurred, doubled, and danced before his eyes. The pounding just behind his temples increased…

"Sesshoumaru?"

"What?" Sesshoumaru asked, startled.

"Are you alright?" the teacher asked. "You've been staring off into space for the entire class."

" Just a headache." The bell rang just then, saving Sesshoumaru from further questions. The teen stood up quickly, and regretted it instantly. His head spun, and he staggered into a desk.

"Is something wrong?" Sesshoumaru shook his head, as much to dispel the residual buzzing in his skull as to mean no, and picked up his book bag. His stomach protested, and he placed one shaky hand over it, praying that he could keep his breakfast in his stomach, where it belonged. He managed to survive the next class, and was actually starting to feel a bit better when he arrived at the fourth class of the day. Science. Physics to be exact. He never did figure out what in the room caused it, but _something _made all his symptoms return with a vengeance. He swallowed uneasily. The first twenty minutes crawled by. The teacher droned on. Without warning, his stomach flipped over. Sesshoumaru gritted his teeth, concentrating on settling his stomach. No such luck.

"Are you okay?" a student to his right asked. The unhappy youth shook his head.

"Would you two care to share your conversation with the rest of the class?" the teacher snapped, clearly annoyed at the interruption. Then he saw Sesshoumaru, who was still fighting his stomach, and losing. "Sesshoumaru? Are you feeling alright? You look absolutely green." The boy groaned, stomach rolling.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Sesshoumaru whispered.

"You're excused." The teacher didn't really need to say so. Sesshoumaru was already out the door, one hand resting on his unsettled stomach, the other clamped over his mouth. He raced down the hall to the boy's bathroom, and crashed down onto his hands and knees in a stall. His body shook as his stomach brought up what felt like everything he'd eaten in the past week. A pair of hands pulled his hair back, out of his face, and then moved to rub his back in an attempt at calming him.

"Easy. It's okay. Don't tense up like that. It's hurting you." The voice was unfamiliar, but friendly. When his stomach had calmed down somewhat, Sesshoumaru stood up and staggered to the sink with the intent of rinsing his mouth out. It never occurred to him to see who was with him. The stranger released him once he was supporting most of his weight on the sink and spoke again. "Do you need help?" Sesshoumaru nodded.

"I don't think I can get back to class on my own."

"Who said anything about class? I'm taking you to the nurse's office. You're in no condition to be at school, let alone in class."

"Okay." Sesshoumaru didn't have the energy to argue, and allowed the stranger to steer him out the door and down the hall, down a flight of stairs (this posed a bit of a problem, as Sesshoumaru was at least a head taller), and into the nurse's office. Somehow, he was able to keep Sesshoumaru from seeing him. Not that Sesshoumaru really cared. He was still feeling awful, and he was pretty sure that, once his stomach had recovered, he was going to be sick again.

"Which class did you leave?"

"Physics."

"Got it. I'll get your stuff in a minute."

"Thanks." The nurse bustled over.

"Which one of you is here to see me?"

"Me." Sesshoumaru mumbled weakly. As if it wanted to prove that statement, his stomach flipped over again, and a sick feeling rose in his chest. Several seconds later found him on his knees before the trashcan, shoulders heaving as he vomited again. The stranger pulled his hair back once more, speaking to the nurse as he did so.

"_This_ is why I brought him. I found him upstairs, but I thought that there wasn't anything left in his stomach. Guess I was wrong. I'm going to get his stuff from his last class, if that's okay with you."

"You do that." The nurse helped Sesshoumaru to a cot in the corner. Once he was safely seated, and no longer in danger of falling over, she popped a thermometer in his mouth. When it beeped, she checked the readout and winced sympathetically. "Mmmm…100 even. Just a low fever. Looks to me like you've got a strain of stomach flu. Poor guy. You should go home."

"I can't. My landlady is out of town, and I don't want to be alone."

"Then perhaps your rescuer will take care of you. I'll ask him when he gets back with your things. In the mean time, you should try to rest." Sesshoumaru nodded and closed his eyes. Sleep came quickly.

5

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	2. Freinds and Home

"Wake up Sesshoumaru." The teenager groaned, opened his eyes and blinked, trying to make the fuzzy image before him form an understandable picture. He succeeded after a moment, and concluded that someone was holding a slightly distorted mirror in front of him. This conclusion was shattered when the face grinned and spoke. "I was wondering when you'd wake up. You've been asleep since 4th." With a start, Sesshoumaru realized that it was none other than InuYasha sitting on a chair beside him.

"What are _you_ doing here!" he yelped, trying to get away, and not succeeding.

"I'm taking you home with me."

"M-m-m-m-me? When did _that_ happen?" Sesshoumaru was confused, and when he was confused or startled, he stuttered.

"Are you not the guy I found puking his guts out during fourth hour? The same 6 foot plus guy I hauled down here?"

"That was you?"

"Yup. You ran into me on your way down the hall. You looked pretty bad, and I though I should follow you."

"Thanks. Am I really staying with you?" InuYasha nodded.

"Yes, unless you made other plans in your sleep."

"I didn't. And being at home alone isn't a pleasant prospect at the moment."

"Alrighty then. Let me get your stuff, and we can go. I arranged a ride, so you don't have to walk too far."

"Thanks. I don't think I could walk in a straight line if my life depended on it."

"Then it's a good thing I can support a big guy like you. We'd be in trouble otherwise." InuYasha got up, collected his backpack and Sesshoumaru's messenger bag, and then held out a hand to help him up. When the tall teen was standing (it took several tries. Sesshoumaru discovered _just_ how dizzy he could get, not to mention that the room kept spinning odd directions. InuYasha made an offhand comment about hearing a drunk say something along the same lines, and Sesshoumaru responded with something unprintable.) they proceeded to the front doors. A forest-green four-door pickup was idling outside.

"Come on!" InuYasha said excitedly. Clearly, the occupant/s of the truck were friends of his. He tossed both his and Sesshoumaru's bag into the truck bed, then pulled both passenger side doors open. "Front or back?" he asked.

"Um…back." Sesshoumaru climbed in, closing the door behind him, and InuYasha did the same. Sesshoumaru took note of the other occupants of the vehicle. There were four others, not counting InuYasha, and counting the girl who showed up right after he did and who hopped into InuYasha's lap.

"Sesshoumaru, these are my friends. This is Kagome-" the girl in his lap waved, then kissed InuYasha's cheek. "-Miroku-" the brunette sitting by the other back door grinned. "-Sango, his girlfriend-" Miroku pointed at the girl asleep on his shoulder.

"And I'm Naraku. Nice 'ta meetcha Sesshy." The driver twisted around and shook Sesshoumaru's hand. He was the only person present that Sesshoumaru couldn't place. He had _very_ long black hair, pale skin, and piercing blue eyes. He noticed Sesshoumaru's confusion. "I graduated two years ago."

"I was wondering." Sesshoumaru admitted.

"No problem. What brings you into our little group?" Sesshoumaru winced, trying not to think about it.

"I found him throwing up during fourth hour. His landlady is out of town, and I told the nurse I'd keep an eye on him."

"You must've caught that stomach bug that's been going around. Everyone's been getting it." Kagome shot a glare over at Naraku. The male in question grinned sheepishly.

"Hey, just because Kouga caught it from me and everyone else –except InuYasha- got it from him doesn't make his being sick _my _fault. If I remember correctly, all of _you_ got sick when you weren't at school."

"Who's Kouga?" Sesshoumaru wanted to know. Naraku blushed and turned his attention back on the road.

"Kouga is Naraku's boyfriend." Miroku explained. The rest of the trip was spent in companionable quiet. Naraku dropped Sesshoumaru and InuYasha off at InuYasha's house.

"Hope you feel better Sesshy!" Naraku called as he pulled away. Both boys headed for the front door, a line of comfortable two-story homes; small, but the right size for a lone teenager, a newly wed couple, or a bachelor. In addition, they all had sizeable backyards, an essential feature, as far as Sesshoumaru was concerned.

"It's not much, but it's home." InuYasha said, unlocking the door and switching the light on. Sesshoumaru had just enough time to register a potted ivy plant and a couple of coat hooks before his vision blurred and a loud roar filled his ears. He quickly became aware of a sickening whirling sensation. Just as quickly, everything but the whirling stopped. "Sesshoumaru? Is something wrong?"

"I don' feel well." He whispered

"Are you goin' to puke?" Afraid to open his mouth, Sesshoumaru nodded miserably. Quickly, InuYasha planted his hands in the small of Sesshoumaru's back and steered him into the bathroom. Not a moment to soon. Poor Sesshoumaru found himself emptying the non-existent contents of his stomach for the third time that day. InuYasha stayed with him, holding his hair and rubbing his back reassuringly. Only when he was certain that Sesshoumaru was finished did he allow the youth to get up and rinse his mouth.

"I'm sorry to be so much trouble." Sesshoumaru murmured, unhappily fixing his gaze on his feet.

"It' okay. You can return the favor later." InuYasha said kindly. "Come on, and I'll show you were you're staying."


End file.
